He walked up to Tony and looked down at the man who had just crawled out of his tin can.
"He looks... like he needs a little privacy."
"By the way, Tony."
Wu Yanzu's face broke into a sincere smile.
"My movie, Homelander: Origins, premieres worldwide in six weeks. When the time comes... I'll send you a VIP invitation."
"You... arrogant... blond bastard..." Tony trembled with rage.
"Thanks for the compliment."
Wu Yanzu stopped looking at him. He turned around, his cape tracing an elegant arc through the air.
"Mr. President, let's go."
He grabbed the president's arm and shot into the sky, vanishing into the darkness before dawn.
Leaving only Tony Stark, holding his "glowing" lover, standing on a deck littered with wreckage and charred corpses, utterly lost in the cold sea wind...
High in the sky.
Wu Yanzu looked at the man in his hand, already limp with exhaustion, and smiled meaningfully.
President Matthew Ellis... how would you repay me?
The night sky was freezing, the wind like countless icy needles trying to pierce President Ellis's expensive suit.
He had never been this cold in his life, nor had he ever been this clear-headed.
The so-called "courage" he had cultivated on golf courses and Capitol Hill was a pathetic joke in the face of that massacre and this current "human flight."
"Hold... hold on tighter, Mr. Homelander!" President Ellis's teeth chattered as he clung to Wu Yanzu's arm as though it were a lifeline.
"Relax, Mr. President."
Wu Yanzu's voice was horrifyingly calm.
He was not flying at full speed, merely maintaining a "comfortable" subsonic pace.
He carried the most powerful man in the country in one hand, while his other hand rested leisurely behind his back.
"My God..." Ellis looked at the coastline shrinking into a map below. "You... you saved my life. The United States... owes you one."
"Oh, a favor?" Wu Yanzu smiled.
Coming from a politician, that word was cheaper than ice in whiskey.
"Mr. President," Wu Yanzu suddenly stopped in midair.
Ellis's heart skipped a beat as well. The sudden weightlessness made him let out a short scream.
"Do you think a favor is what I want?" Wu Yanzu turned to face Ellis directly.
"I... I..." President Ellis began to panic.
"I saved your life. In a few minutes, I resolved a terrorist attack that could have kept the Pentagon in meetings for an entire year." Wu Yanzu's voice was soft, yet more piercing than the gale.
"And Tony Stark, that so-called Iron Man. He brought along that pile of clanking scrap metal and got beaten into the ground by terrorists. He couldn't even protect his woman."
"And me," Wu Yanzu drew Ellis closer, "I showed up... and I won! Just like I always do."
"What... what do you want?" President Ellis finally asked.
"What do I want?" Wu Yanzu smiled.
"Mr. President, I don't want anything. You're the one who needs me."
Over Washington, D.C., the last darkness before dawn was split apart by a red-and-blue figure.
Wu Yanzu flew across half the United States at a relatively comfortable speed, carrying a mortal along with him.
That mortal, Matthew Ellis, the current president of the United States, had his eyes tightly shut, his face pale as he clung desperately to Homelander's arm.
"Relax, Mr. President. We're almost there. You should change your suit; the quality is terrible."
President Ellis did not hear the second half at all. He only felt as though his organs were about to be flung out through his throat.
"Hold tight. Prepare to land."
Four in the morning, the White House.
Every light on the South Lawn had been switched on, and Washington's entire security apparatus was nearly losing its mind.
Secret Service agents held P90 submachine guns as they nervously established a defensive line across the lawn, while helicopters circled overhead.
"God... look! What is that?!" A young agent pointed at the sky.
"Unidentified flying object! It's approaching at high speed!!"
"Open fire... wait! Don't fire! That... that's..."
"Whoosh—!"
A violent wind erupted.
Wu Yanzu held President Ellis and slowly descended into the center of the South Lawn in a perfect, powerful pose.
His Stars and Stripes Cape draped elegantly behind him.
"..."
Dozens of Secret Service agents stood there with their guns raised, staring in dumbfounded shock.
"Mr... Mr. President!!"
"Oh my god... it's Homelander!!"
"He... he brought the president back!!"
"Click! Click! Click! Click—!!"
The reporters gathered outside the White House gates went insane!
Separated by iron fencing, they frantically pressed their shutters, flashbulbs turning the night as bright as day!
This photograph was destined to become the century's most iconic Pulitzer Prize contender—"Homelander Saves the Union."
"Ding! Popularity Points gained +250410!" "Ding! Popularity Points gained +301152!" "Ding! Popularity Points gained +284471!" "..."
The power within Homelander surged again.
Well done, me, he thought. This fucking... is what you call marketing.
"Mr. President!" The head of the Secret Service, an agent named Flynn, was the first to react. He rushed forward with his people and took the president from him.
The Oval Office.
The fireplace burned brightly.
President Matthew Ellis was wrapped in a thick wool blanket, holding a freshly poured glass of brandy. Yet his hand still trembled uncontrollably.
The office was full of people.
The Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and... the vice president who had remained "invisible" throughout the incident.
The vice president's face was even paler than the president's. He knew he was finished.
"Everyone out." President Ellis suddenly spoke, his voice low.
"Mr. President? We must..."
"I said, get the fuck out!" Ellis exploded. He smashed his glass to the floor. "Leave only... Mr. Homelander."
They looked at one another, but no one dared defy him.
Under Homelander's faintly amused gaze, the vice president practically scrambled out of the office on his hands and knees.
The heavy oak doors closed.
Now, only two people remained.
"All right..." President Ellis opened his mouth. "No matter what, I owe you my life, Mr. Homelander."
"Just call me Anthony, Mr. President."
"You look terrible, Matthew." He addressed the president by his first name.
President Ellis froze for a moment, but did not object.
Before this man, the authority of his "presidency" was as fragile as paper.
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